Some heroes are blessed with uncannily sharp minds. Capable of feats of reason and intellect far beyond that of the common man, these individuals have an aptitude for many difficult tasks. In an age were weapons have been outlawed, the most dangerous weapon is the one the shadow cannot conquer, the mind.

The art of writing: The wiser character has a natural ability to grasp logic and the written word. At level one he gains the ability to read and write in any one language he can speak. Additionally, the wiser need only spend one skill point to learn to read and write other languages.
Languages that don’t have a written form (such as Orcish or Patrol Sign) cannot be selected for this ability.

Quick Learner: The wiser gain an additional skill point every level. On level 10 this bonus increases to two additional skill points per level, this increase is not retroactive.
The extra skill point on first level is not multiplied by four, only a single bonus skill point is recieved.

Sharp as a knife: The Wiser can solve puzzles and problems with a speed and finesse that befuddles those of lesser intellect. He gains the listed roll on all Appraise, Decipher Script and Forgery checks, as well as any rolls to solve puzzles or riddles.

Battleplan: The Wiser can see tactical advantages, spot weaknesses and lay clever plans for combat with breathtaking speed. Starting on level 3 he may once per day as a free action activate the Battleplan ability. He may then add his wisdom or intelligence modifier to either attack, damage or armour class for a number of turns equal to his level.
At later levels the Wiser gain additional uses of this ability, for the cost of additional uses, the Wiser may add the bonus to more than one type of roll. Adding the bonus to both attack and damage for example would take two uses for the day.

Hardened Mind: The Wiser’s mind is a mighty fortress against the ravages of enchantments and intoxicants. He gains the listed bonus on all will saves, and on saves against effects that would dull his mind.

Swift of thought: The speed of thought has a different meaning for the Wiser, being able to think on a whole different scale of speed than most. Starting at level 8 the wiser may perform any intellectual task(such as writing, deciphering, learning spells, etc.) in only half the normal time.
At level 13 the Wiser may apply this swiftness of mind to combat, allowing him to reroll initiative rolls (the second roll must be accepted however, even if lower than the original).

Library of knowledge: The Wiser’s ability to soak up knowledge everywhere has now resulted in a general understanding of almost all things. The wiser may make any knowledge skill roll untrained, even for difficult questions. The wiser gains a +2 bonus on knowledge checks.

Originally published in Sorcery And Shadow
Author of this revised version: Albert